Hello
My name is Kimberly Scott. I received my undergraduate in pre-med from Berry College and worked in pharmaceutical manufacturing and research for many years. As a result of my own health crisis combined with my son's health issues, I decided to continue my education in natural health studies. I received my Doctorate in Traditional Naturopathy (ND) from New Eden School of Natural Health and Herbal Studies, completing my dissertation on PANS/PANDAS. I live in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, with my husband, four children, and dog. We like to go hiking and camping.
My Story
In the summer of 1994, I was bitten by a tick and developed an erythema migrans rash. However since I wasn't in a Lyme endemic area, I wasn't properly treated. I experienced debilitating symptoms for many years post-bite, but they were all dismissed by doctors. In 2009, I became pregnant with my first child. During pregnancy, I had recurring Lyme symptoms that were attributed to hormone changes during pregnancy. These symptoms went away once my son was born in the spring of 2010. In January of 2012, my son was bitten by something in the yard, and I was told to treat it topically with an antibiotic cream. Roughly 8 weeks later, I was giving birth to my second son, but my oldest son became extremely sick within days of our hospital stay. I attributed it to a "bug" he got at the hospital, not realizing until 3 years later that this illness was actually a tickborne infection caused by the bite from Jan 2012. In the following year (2012-13), my oldest son went from an active toddler who was developmentally on-track to a very sick child who was losing skills and almost bed-bound. After seeing multiple doctors with no answers, he was given an ASD label. Shortly after the spring of 2014, he began hallucinating, having uncontrolled emotions, developed motor tics, insomnia, and many other symptoms that were not typical of an ASD diagnosis. At this time, his new pediatrician diagnosed him with PANS and sent us to an Infectious Disease doctor, who wouldn't test him for tickborne diseases. After talking with another mom in the GA PANS Support Group, I was directed to a Lyme Literate Naturopath, who tested my son and found multiple tickborne infections. Given my symptoms since 1994, I also tested positive for tickborne infections including Lyme Disease. It was determined via testing that my son had both congenital Lyme Disease with multiple co-infections as well as acquired Ehrlichiosis. We both began treatment, and I achieved remission. However, my son was unable to stay in remission and flared with tickborne infections combined with PANS flares. After researching Buhner's herbal protocols, I started treating my son with extended tickborne protocols based on Buhner's work. In January 2019, he finally achieved lasting remission from tickborne infections and PANS.